This bill establishes the emergency preparedness required of railroad corporations transporting hazardous materials in the state and the response required by railroad corporations if a discharge of hazardous materials occurs.

This bill requires each railroad corporation operating in the state to submit to the Department of Natural Resources a plan detailing the measures the corporation will take to prevent the discharge of hazardous materials and to respond to discharges that may occur. Each railroad corporation is required to provide training to each fire department along the route upon which the corporation's trains operate. The training must include response preparedness relating to discharge and derailments and techniques to assess hazards to the environment. Each railroad corporation must complete these requirements once every three years.

This bill requires a railroad corporation operating a train that discharges material to provide an employee to advise the local incident commander within one hour. Within three hours, the corporation must deliver monitoring equipment and qualified personnel to assess the discharge. Within eight hours, the corporation must deliver equipment capable of containing 10 percent of the discharge. Within 60 hours, the corporation must deliver equipment capable of containing 100 percent of the discharge.

This bill requires the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads (OCR) to employ rail safety inspectors who will inspect railroad tracks, rights-of-way, yards, and physical plants and review railroad safety requirements, security measures, and maintenance and repair records. This bill increases OCR's rail safety inspector positions by four positions. This bill also requires OCR to reimburse fire departments for certain expenses associated with the training required by this bill. This bill requires OCR to assess each railroad corporation a proportionate share, based on route miles operated in this state, of OCR's expenses related to the rail inspection and training required by this bill.

This bill requires OCR to submit to the legislature no later than January 15, 2017, a report on the emergency preparedness response framework within the state relating to incidents involving hazardous materials transported by rail. This report must include an assessment of training needs and must establish benchmarks for assessing training needs in the future. This bill also requires OCR to submit to the legislature no later than November 1, 2017, an update to the initial report that evaluates the effectiveness of training conducted and identifies funding sources and future funding needs.

This bill requires the Department of Transportation to submit to the legislature no later than November 1, 2017, a report that includes information to assist in risk management associated with rail transportation of hazardous materials, criteria for prioritizing at-grade crossing improvements, recommendations for safety improvements, and an analysis of rail inspection activities.

For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

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20.155 (2) (h) Rail inspection, safety training, and response preparedness. All 3moneys received under s. 189.02 (8) for activities of the office of the commissioner of 4railroads under s. 192.45 and for payments under s. 192.45 (2) (b).

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(b) The office shall apply to and enter into agreements with the federal railroad 11administration to participate in the federal state rail safety participation program 12for training and certification of rail safety inspectors.

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(c) A rail safety inspector who has been trained and certified in any of the 14federal state rail safety participation program disciplines may perform the duties 15relevant to that discipline.

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(d) To the extent authorized by the federal railroad administration and the 17office, rail safety inspectors may issue citations for violations of requirements under 18chs. 190 to 192 that are punishable by forfeiture.

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189.02 (8) In addition to any assessment under s. 195.60, the office shall 21annually assess each railroad corporation operating in this state a proportionate 22share, based on route miles operated in this state, of the actual cost of the expenses 23of the office under s. 192.45 and the payments under s. 192.45 (2) (b). The office shall 24credit all moneys received under this subsection to the appropriation account under 25s. 20.155 (2) (h).

AB552,4,42192.45Emergency prevention and response.(1) Each railroad 3corporation operating in this state shall submit to the department of natural 4resources a prevention and response plan that does all of the following:

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(a) Describes the measures taken to prevent discharges from occurring.

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(d) Describes how the railroad corporation will ensure adequate equipment and 13personnel will be provided if there is a discharge.

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(e) Contains copies of contracts, correspondence, and other documents in 15support of the description provided in par. (d).

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(f) Describes the actions that will be taken by the individuals identified in par. 17(c) if there is a discharge.

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(g) Describes the training and equipment testing that will be provided to 19ensure that the persons identified in par. (c) are prepared to respond to a discharge.

AB552,4,2220(2) (a) Each railroad corporation operating in this state shall provide training 21to each fire department having jurisdiction along the route upon which the railroad 22corporation's trains operate that addresses all of the following:

AB552,5,1917(3) Each railroad corporation required to comply with subs. (1) and (2) (a) shall 18complete the requirements of subs. (1) and (2) (a) within one year after the effective 19date of this subsection .... [LRB inserts date], and once every 3 years thereafter.

AB552,5,2320(4) Each railroad corporation operating in this state shall communicate at least 21once annually with the emergency manager of each county and city and the senior 22fire officer of each fire department having jurisdiction along the route upon which 23the railroad corporation's trains operate to coordinate emergency response activities.

AB552,5,2524(5) In the event of a discharge, the railroad corporation operating the train that 25discharged material shall do all of the following:

AB552,6,21(a) Within one hour of confirmation of a discharge, provide a qualified railroad 2employee to advise the local incident commander.

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(b) Within 3 hours of confirmation of a discharge, deliver monitoring equipment 4and a trained operator to assist in the protection of responders and the public.

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(c) Within 3 hours of confirmation of a discharge, deliver qualified personnel 6to assess the discharge and advise the local incident commander.

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(d) Within 8 hours of confirmation of a discharge, deliver equipment capable 8of containing 10 percent of the discharge.

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(e) Within 60 hours of confirmation of a discharge, deliver equipment capable 10of containing 100 percent of the discharge.

AB552,6,1211(6) The office shall plan and coordinate activities necessary to carry out the 12purposes of this section, including rail safety inspection.

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(1) Rail inspectors. The authorized FTE positions for the office of the 7commissioner of railroads, funded from the appropriation under section 20.155 (2) 8(h) of the statutes, are increased by 4.0 PR positions for the purpose of increasing the 9number of rail safety inspector positions.

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(2) Report on response preparedness. No later than January 15, 2017, the 11office of the commissioner of railroads shall submit to the appropriate standing 12committees of the legislature under section 13.172 (3) of the statutes a report that 13includes all of the following:

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(a) The emergency preparedness response framework within the state relating 15to incidents involving oil and other hazardous materials transported by rail.